It’s often a guaranteed gold mine when a book or product makes Oprah Winfrey’s ‘Favorite Things’ list released prior to the Christmas season, and this year Oprah’s Favorite Things features a Certified SC made product – Sallie’s Greatest Herbal Fruit Jams. Sallie Porth’s jam business started just two years ago in Cameron, South Carolina. Now her all-natural jams are gaining national attention just in time for the holidays.

Porth uses locally grown fruits and fresh herbs in all of her jams. The three featured in the December 2012 issue of O Magazine are Strawberry + Basil, Blueberry + Lavender, and Peach Pepper + Ginger. In the magazine, Oprah raves about the many uses for Sallie’s greatest jams in things such as sandwiches or as a glaze on hams.

Sallie’s Greatest jams are sold in stores like 302 Artisans, in Columbia, Whole Foods, and online at SalliesGreatest.com.

NC State Partners with UK University on Research into Ginger

N.C. State University’s Plants for Human Health Institute (PHHI), in Kannapolis, has partnered with the University of Surrey in England to conduct research involving plants and potential cancer treatments. At the root of the research is ginger, which scientists are studying for its potential cancer-fighting properties.

Dr. Mary Grace, senior researcher with PHHI, and Akram Aloqbi, a visiting Ph.D. candidate in oncology from the University of Surrey, are collaborating to search for anti-cancer compounds in several ginger varieties. Ginger is a rhizome long utilized for its medicinal and culinary properties.

Grace and Aloqbi are targeting zerumbone, a phytochemical in ginger that is known to possess anti-inflammatory properties and counter HIV activity. The compound has also shown promise as a potential treatment for some cancers, so N.C. State and the University of Surrey are digging deeper for answers.

Groups Speak Out on Denial of RFS Waiver

The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision Friday to deny a waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard for ethanol has drawn expected praise from the renewable fuels industry and sharp criticism from livestock producers. EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarty says analysis by EPA, USDA and the Energy Department shows on average a waiver would reduce corn prices by about one-percent and have no impact on household energy costs. Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen says even his industry took a hit from high corn prices…

“The ethanol production has been ratcheted back about 11% since June when this drought really became apparent and corn prices began to spike. The market place is rationing demand and that’s where it should occur, not in the basement of some government agency.”

But that argument was little comfort to livestock groups that claim dozens of operations were lost due to high feed prices. NCBA forecasts liquidation this year of half-a-million beef cows and 50-thousand dairy cows.

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